Police officials announced that nine people died and 25 others were injured in suicide bomb attack which occurred Thursday night in a Shiite Muslim prayer hall located in Peshawar in northwestern Pakistan.

The attack occurred just two days ahead of the Shiite religious festival of Ashura, where they mourn the death in the seventh century of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad and is part of the holy month of Muharram.

Peshawar Mayor Haji Ghulam Ali confirmed the death of nine people just an hour later after the attack occurred. Among the 25 people who were wounded, was also Syed Rza Shah, a prominent Shiite cleric, San Francisco Chronicle reports.

The attack occurred in Mohalla Jangi, a neighborhood of Peshawar.

The attacker was first stopped at the entrance in the mosque by police. Afterwards he opened fire and blew himself up.

The wounded were taken to the Lady Reading Hospital.

Nobody claimed the attack yet.

Witnesses said that they saw the young man, who they believed was around 18 years old, forcing his way in the crowded Imambargah Qasim Baig mosque and blowing himself up in the hall.

Local television showed the chaos after the explosion, with body parts scattered on the floor of the mosque and charred walls.

Among the wounded were two female police officers who were there to strengthen the security for the religious holiday.

Thursday the Taliban fighters took control over the second fort after it was abandoned by paramilitary troops without a shot being fired.

An official said that the troops fled due to threats they’ve received from the militants. They went to a military base near Jandola.

On the other had, a militant spokesman, Maulvi Mohammed Umar, said that the troops surrendered after the fort was surrounded by 500 fighters.

He said: "We released (the troops) under the spirit of Islam. The Taliban have now hoisted their white flag on the fort."

The army denies such a thing.

Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said: “I strongly contradict this news, and this post is in our control.”

Each year, around the religious holiday Muharram, violence appears. Fifty people were killed in a 2005 blast which was detonated at a Shiite shrine in southwestern Pakistan.